Beware the Security Update - How I fixed my WIFI problem and a question

Question

First of all I have read the "Latest Update from 21 January is A Disaster" thread and I basically agree with Andrew is Stuck so please don't feel the need repeat any of the stuff about it is not a bug in the update etc etc and I should have a Super Duper clone to hand etc etc . I have read that stuff. You are probably right but they should write on the Security Update info panel - "Be Careful this could really ruin your day".
I am ****** off and stressed out and I need to rant and I am not looking for that kind of lecture - even if it is partially or wholly true. I need to feel positive by warning people the way I wish I had been warned!
NB I am near the end of a professional dance tour as Musical Director running music on Logic on my MBP and it has been working fantastic - not a single glitch in 6 weeks. I would never upgrade my OS or Logic in the middle of job like this BUT Security Updates have always seem like something you should install because they will protect the Mac or protect against any new viruses etc. I have never had a problem with them before. (THAT ATTITUDE WILL NOW CHANGE!!!)
This update has caused a lot of people a lot of problems (check out this forum) and it has caused me more real world problems than anything I have downloaded and installed from anywhere in the last 3 years. Thus it has nothing to do with Security!!! HOw any people does a Security Uodate have to goose before it becomes an unsatisfactory Security Update?
This security update suddenly stopped my WIFI working and put me in a real hole.
(I am sure you don't care but I have a meeting tomorrow morning that I needed to do 3 hours of prep for including looking at VIDEO online. And the Security Update has just put paid to that. )
After 3 hours I have just got WIfi back- here's how:
I repaired permissions twice with Disk Utility - no joy. I found I could get online when I booted in Safe Mode (and I could get online with my Iphone on the same WIFi setup) so I knew it was not the router - though I did switch the router on and off a few times,
When I initially ran Repair permissions there was loads of things needing repair. I ran it again and 2 remained:
usr/share/derby it keeps trying to repair
and one of the package contents of the ARDAgent.app (System>Library>CoreServices>RemoteManagement>ARDAgent.app>Contents>MacOS>ARDAg ent) had a warning attached that it in the Disk Utility Repair Permissions report that it had been modified.
So I restored ARDAgent.app from a Time Machine Back up and replaced the offending file when in Safe Mode (Restart with Shift held down). - using Ctrl Click to open the ARDAgent.app package contents.
This seemed to sort it all out for me.
I guess people need to look in their Disk Utility Repair Permissions reports and see if any esoteric system files have been goosed by the update and see if they can get them back - although if you don't know what you are doing this could make things worse......
Anyway I DO have questions:
If this hadn't of worked:
1) Would reinstalling Snow Leopard from disks have upset my preferences, installs of Logic and Audio drivers and 3rd party application installs and the rest?
- the main stressor when this happens is not trying to lose the whole day.
2) Is there a way of just restoring the System from a Time Machine Backup or a SuperDuper clone or do you have to restore the whole state of the entire Hard Drive?
Best
Tommy Banana
PS I feel better now. Thanks for listening.

Answer 1

The fact that you saw no glitches while running Logic before applying the update means almost nothing because that uses only a small subset of system resources. Far more significant is that Safe Mode restored some missing functionality: because it disables non-essential items like user fonts, third party drivers, & so on, it points to problems in those areas.
Equally significant, the fact that there are relatively few reports of post-update problems among the several million Snow Leopard users points away from the update itself as the cause of your problems.
Separate & apart from that, it so happens that I'm a sound engineer/system designer/board operator with nearly 40 years of professional touring experience. FWIW, I never have & never will update the software of any system I must rely on professionally (whether it is running on a Mac, a PC, or dedicated hardware) unless & until I can thoroughly test it first and I have a trustworthy backup/recursion strategy to fall back on in case of problems.
I strongly suggest you learn from your unpleasant experience & do the same. I have had far fewer problems with Macs than with PC's, but nothing is 100% reliable to begin with. Changing the OS software part way through the tour is just asking for trouble, no matter how reliable that has been in the past. Even if the budget allows for nothing better than a stack of burned CD's & a couple of consumer grade CD players, no professional tour can afford to be without some fallback strategy in place. That should be self-evident & require no warning from Apple or anybody else.